Adams' goal: Make Portland most sustainable city

Portland Mayor Sam Adams challenged business leaders Friday to make the city the world’s “most sustainable” in a speech before the City Club.

Among the proposals Adams announced:

An effort by the city of Portland and Multnomah County to reduce carbon emissions that cause climate change.

A new fund established by the Energy Trust of Oregon to help residents invest in residential energy efficiency.

Local tax credits of up to $1,500 for businesses that install solar energy systems in the next two years.

“We will set the goal for Portland to be the most sustainable city in the world,” he said during the State of the City address. “And in doing so, we will make Portland the hub for the global green economy.”

The mayor, who took office Jan. 1, further pledged to create more green retail districts in areas such as within the proposed downtown retail district, the Gateway and Lents neighborhoods and along Killingsworth.

Adams also apologized for the scandal that rocked the early days of his term. His Jan. 19 admission that he engaged in a relationship with a young legislative aide has distracted him, he conceded.

No City Club members asked Adams about the scandal.

“I’ve made life more difficult in these trying times,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes, as has been well-documented, and I’m very sorry for the distraction it has caused my colleagues, my friends and the city. All I can ask for is that you judge me not based on (the mistake) but on the totality of my public service career and on my love for and dedication to the city.”

Adams drew sustained rounds of applause after his introduction and after apologizing for the relationship, which the state attorney general’s office is investigating. He also drew a standing ovation after finishing the speech.

Adams said he met with Ditlev Engel, CEO of Vestas Wind Systems, last seek. The company could soon build a North American headquarters in the South Waterfront that could employ 850 and inject $250 million into the local economy.

He called for state lawmakers to approve incentives so Vestas could complete the move.

Adams and Amanda Fritz also want to develop more of the city’s brownfields, a move that could bring economic benefits in the $80 million range, he said and not require expanding the urban growth boundary.

“(We should) find the employment lands we need by aggregating smaller parcels within the urban growth boundary and clean up the hundreds of acres of brownfields in Portland to put that land back to productive use,” he said.

Adams said expanding the urban growth boundary would tax the area’s infrastructure systems.

“We do not have the billions necessary to maintain the transportation infrastructure we already have,” Adams said. ‘”We do not have the funds to build the improvements within the urban growth boundary on the drawing boards.”

A longtime backer of improving the Columbia River Crossing, Adams called for a “performance-based active transportation management system.”

Some have proposed congestion-based tolling as a means of both bridge funding and traffic control.

“The Columbia River Crossing will function differently in 2030 than it does on opening day,” he said. “The economy will change, as will community needs. We share the belief that a performance-based goal is the best tool we have to ensure the new bridge meets the needs of current and future citizens.”

Adams said the city will synchronize with 45 different federal agencies to distribute federal stimulus money. The city will use $8 million of the money to train unemployed and dislocated workers in basic skills, computer usage and vocational English as a second language.

The money will also fund online high-school degree completion options for adults.

The economy colored the speech, with Adams pointing out that 45,000 Portland residents are newly jobless.

“Forty-five thousand, that is like filling Memorial Coliseum almost four times,” he said. “Other Portlanders are still employed by scraping by with dwindling hours and benefits. Still others live in fear of losing all that they have worked for.”

The city can survive, though, because it holds competitive advantage in advanced manufacturing, apparel and active-wear design, software and bioscience.

The city continues to reorganize its bureaus as leaders firm up next year’s budget, Adams said.

Adams called on Portlanders to work together as the city rides out what could become a national depression.

“Portland has always been better together, he said. “It is in our DNA. We’ve been through wars, depressions and wrenching changes. There have been times when we thought we were broken. But in each of those times, we have always grown stronger in the broken places.

“If we do it right, we will not just rise to the moment but we will build a foundation that will make this not just our year, not just our decade but will create a future that is uniquely Portland: a prosperity that includes our values and all the people who call Portland their home.”